Tool Box #2: case work

Ok, spent a bit of time getting the case put together. Things just seem to roost on my benchtop.

Setting the panels upside down on an almost flat benchtop. Clamp an end panel to the front/back panel. The longer panels have a series of counter-bored screw holes, about seven per corner. Clamp a corner together, add a few screws, move the clamp a bit to uncover the one or two that are hiding under them. Work my way around, by adding the other end panel, rotate the three piece set around, and add the other long panel. No glue was used, just some long screws. Flip the case up on an end, and add the end cleats

This time I use a bit of glue, and a few screws. This is for the floor boards to get fastened to.

Floor boards: Brought two 1×10s down from the wood stash. Just pine. Cut them both to the length needed. Now, two of these would cause problems if left alone. One, they were a bit wide, and two, they might cup up/down, and make an uneven floor. Can’t have that. So, one board was ripped right down the center. Edges were hand plane jointed, and a test fit done. This gave me a measurement on where to rip the third floorboard. Somewhere around 5”, or so. Again, plane to joint the sawn edge, test fit, cuss, plane a bit more, test fit, cuss, and FINALLY get it in place with just a paper space in between the other two boards

Add a few screws along the edges on the outer two boards, and one on each enc of the middle board. Box now has a bottom! Hand plane work to level the sides of the chest. When one works with recycled stuff, not all are the same thickness. Even along the length of the boards. Handplanes to get things looking a bit better

Millers Falls #9 smooth plane. Found an OLD bit for the drill press, and tried it out

on some scrap Black Walnut. Veritas 3/8” plug cutter, with the speed set on top-end #5. First one or two were a bit rough, as the bit was getting a cleaning on the go. After that, about 28 tapered plugs were cut. Got a few installed

I put a dab of glue into the hole, and bang the plug home. Let them set for awhile..

Take a sharp chisel, and set the bevel down. Go into eeach plug a bit high, that way, any downhill grain will still stay above the surface. Then that old plane came along

and all the plugs in that corner post is now flush. Some of the joints at the corners were a bit rough, as in, one board was a bit thick than the others in the joint. One was 1/4” thicker! I am NOT going to handplane that much down, so, new 80grit belt in the beltsander, and things were soon leveled out. Followed up with a plane or two. One spot had grain going in two directions at once, tear-out city. Seems the factory that made that old bed, didn’t care which way the grain went when they glued up a bunch of slats to make a board. Went across that area with a low angle block plane

Clamped a side to the bench to work on the other sides. Got all the other plugs installed. Stand this box up

Once the second set of plugs are planed flush, I might just start on a lid for this Box. Stay tuned, fun is about to begin…